--12_31_2008_Portfolio story: Historic house move_bv--

--12_31_2008_Portfolio story: Historic house move_bv--

At the beginning of my time here at the P-I, which only feels like yesterday, I had the opportunity to work on one of my favorite assignments of my entire time with the paper. I turned the regular daily assignment into a little story for my portfolio.

This is the final piece of my 2008 portfolio. I hope you enjoyed the images and as I said, I'd love to hear opinions and thoughts about the images that I have posted here.

2008 went quickly. Here's to a fantastic 2009.

Cheers,

Brad Vest

--12_31_2008_Solos_bv--

--12_31_2008_Solos_bv--

Here are my single, editorial, non sports images. Choosing portfolio images is one of the toughest things for photographers. There are images that mean a lot more to me emotionally so I feel more attached to them even though they're not my best images, those are the hardest cut out. I was fortunate enough to have members of the P-I staff look over my images many times and it has helped me imensly in narrowing down my final pics. Of course, no matter who you show your portfolio to, even if the first person loves every single image there will be people who just hate them. It's tough, but for now here are my single images in my short 3 year photojournalism career so far.

Again, any criticism and comments are extremely welcome.

Thanks for looking.

-Brad Vest

--12_31_2008_a little farewell and the portfolio thus far--

--12_31_2008_a little farewell and the portfolio thus far--

Since it's the end of 2008 and the end of my time here at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I figured I would throw up my current portfolio, as it stands now at the end of 2008. Note, these all were not shot in 2008 this is my complete portfolio. I figure it will be nice to look back at this and see how much it changes come 2009, 10, and so on. I'll split each section into different posts so it's easy to follow and separate out the different sections.

I think I have improved quite a bit this year and the Post-Intelligencer has been a huge part of that. I'll continue to wok on improving every aspect of my work in 2009 and we'll see where it leads.

Today is my last day of interning at the P-I. It's been a fantastic experience and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I've grown as a photographer and a human being by being around such an amazing staff of photographers, editors, and writers. It'll be hard not coming through the P-I doors anymore to grab assignments that took me all over this wonderful city and parts of this state. I'll miss so much of my experience here and most of all the wonderful people I had the opportunity to work with each day.

In a few days I'll be leaving this amazing place and heading home to visit with my family and friends in Illinois for a little more than a week. Then I am off to my next internship in quite a different place than Seattle Washington, Hutchinson Kansas. I'll be working for Hutchinson News, a smaller 30k circulation paper in Hutchinson which is pretty much in the center of Kansas. It's sort of strange right now only staying in towns for 4 months at a time before moving onto the next opportunity. However, I enjoy the challenges that come with change and all the opportunities that follow closely behind.

Thanks to everyone at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, you made my first internship an amazing and unforgettable experience.

I'll post the portfolio in a few different blogs. Here are my sports images. It's a little long and I'll probably cut a few here or there depending on who I would be sending the portfolio to.

Best,
And have a great New Year.

-Brad

--12_15_2008_Withdrawing from a family Pt. 2_bv--

--12_15_2008_Withdrawing from a family Pt. 2_bv--

The Seattle area happened to go through a cold spell while Joy and her family's heater was on the fritz. When the local American Legion heard of the family living in the cold they paid for them to stay in an extended stay hotel through the cold spell and until their heater could be fixed or replaced. I met up with Joy and her daughters early one morning to follow the beginning of their day from the hotel to school and dealing with the cold.

I have great respect for anyone in the armed services or any sector of work that forces you to be away from your family for long spans of time. I couldn't imagine leaving a family and being thousands of miles away for over a year. Not to mention all while putting your life in danger. No matter your views on any war the highest amount of respect should be given to those who volunteer and sacrifice so much.

Thanks for checking in.

Best,
Brad Vest


Joy Mack catches a quick break after brushing her daughter's, Megan, 6, hair, inside their room at the Crossroad Economy Studios Extended Stay America hotel, Tuesday, December 16, 2008, in Puyallup.
(Brad Vest/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)


Joy Mack prepares her daughters lunches as Megan, 6, gathers her clothes to get dressed while at the Crossroad Economy Studios Extended Stay America hotel, Tuesday, December 16, 2008, in Puyallup. The American Legion is paying for their stay during the cold spell since their homes heater isn't working properly.


Joy Mack shares a moment with her daughter, Megan, 6, at the Crossroad Economy Studios Extended Stay America hotel before starting their day on Tuesday, December 16, 2008, in Puyallup.


Joy Mack and her daughter Megan, 6, wait outside the bathroom door while Mack's older daughter Kori, 11, cries inside of their hotel room bathroom because she didn't want to go back to the family's home and wait in the cold for her school bus, Tuesday, December 16, 2008, in Puyallup. The American Legion is paying for the family's stay during the cold spell because of the faulty electricity and heating in their home. Joy Mack allowed her daughter, Kori, to skip school and spend the day with her at work on Camp Murray.


Joy Mack and her daughters Megan, 6, and Kori, 11, step into the cold to head to work and school respectively leaving their room at the Crossroad Economy Studios Extended Stay America hotel, Tuesday, December 16, 2008, in Puyallup.


Joy Mack, center, and her daughters Megan, 6, right, and Kori, 11, left, take the elevator down to their car at the Crossroad Economy Studios Extended Stay America hotel, Tuesday, December 16, 2008, in Puyallup.


Joy Mack and her daughters Megan, 6, and Kori, 11, prepare to leave the Crossroad Economy Studios Extended Stay America hotel, Tuesday, December 16, 2008, in Puyallup.


Joy Mack holds her daughter's, Megan, 6, hand as she drops her off for daycare at Camp McChord Air Force Base before heading to work at Camp Murray on Tuesday, December 16, 2008, in Puyallup.


Joy Mack kisses her daughter, Megan, 6, goodbye while dropping her off at daycare before heading to work on Tuesday, December 16, 2008, in Puyallup.

--12_14_2008_Withdrawing a family Pt. 1_bv--

--12_14_2008_Withdrawing a family Pt. 1_bv--

Recently I had the opportunity to follow a family of three dealing with problems leading up to the deployment of the mom, Joy Mack, for an 18 month tour of duty in Afghanistan. Many people in the local community are volunteering to help her in these last few weeks before she was set up to ship off to the Middle East.

Mack lives in Puyallup Washington with her two daughters Kori and Megan. Members of the local American Legion along with a volunteer from the Seattle Seahawks, the NFL team based in Seattle. Here are some photos from my first visit with the family. I was sent to cover the volunteers helping the family. On this day a few volunteers came over to help clear the yard of the overgrown blackberry bushes and other debris that the family obviously could not find time for in the rush to get prepared to go off to war.

The younger daughter Megan, was pretty much in love with my camera. It's always tough in those situations to shoot accordingly. As a photojournalist the most important thing I strive for is capturing real moments that would have happened as if I were not there. So whenever she would do goofy things, obviously just because I was there I would take a few photos to make her happy and then just sort of filter away into the background letting her do her own thing. Usually while shooting regular assignments it's tough to really 'disappear' and have the subject fell totally comfortable with you there. That's why it is great to get into longer term stories, where you become something of the norm and the subject becomes comfortable with you around taking photos.

Here are some of my favorites and a few examples of how hard it is to just blend in and shoot in a new environment.

Thanks for looking,
Brad Vest

Listening to: Falling down, Oasis


Joy Mack is an Army Specialist being deployed for training in January before being sent for a tour in Afghanistan sometime in March, Sunday, December 14, 2008, in Puyallup. Mack is receiving a lot of help from the American Legion and other volunteers before being deployed.
(Brad Vest/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)


Joy Mack, left, along with volunteer Mike Flood, the Vice President/Community Relations & Special Projects for the Seahawks, help clean up around Mack's yard by clearing blackberry bushes and other debris on Sunday, December 14, 2008, in Puyallup.
(Brad Vest/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)


This is a photo I've taken hundreds of times. I shoot the person straight on with a little of their clothing showing and then record an audio clip with their name and information for my captions. Sometimes they turn out to be great portraits even though I am just shooting them randomly and quickly moving from subject to subject.


Army Specialist Joy Mack, left, kisses her daughter's, Megan, 6, injury from a blackberry bush while working outside with volunteers to clean up around Mack's yard by clearing blackberry bushes and other debris on Sunday, December 14, 2008, in Puyallup.
(Brad Vest/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)


The daughters were very into drawing and other forms of artwork. They spent a lot of time showing my their artwork. Again, it is sort of hard to work and make pictures when you are obviously having an impact on being there. It was fun how open the family was and accepting they were to having me there documenting their lives.


Megan gets her boots on to go outside an help her mother cut back some of the blackberry bushes that have overgrown their lawn, Sunday, December 14, 2008, in Puyallup.
(Brad Vest/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)


Megan puts her hat on to go outside an help her mother cut back some of the blackberry bushes that have overgrown their lawn, Sunday, December 14, 2008, in Puyallup.
(Brad Vest/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)


Army Specialist Joy Mack, left, helps her daughter, Megan, 6, with her gloves while working outside with volunteers to clean up around Mack's yard by clearing blackberry bushes and other debris on Sunday, December 14, 2008, in Puyallup.
(Brad Vest/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)




Joy Mack gives Mike Flood, Seattle Seahawks Vice President / Community Relations & Special Projects, a hug after he helped clean up around Mack's yard by clearing blackberry bushes and other debris on Sunday, December 14, 2008, in Puyallup. Mack has seen an outpouring of support for her and her family in the last few weeks before heading off in January for training and her upcoming tour in Afghanistan.
(Brad Vest/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)


At some point in time I was attacked while taking pictures outside. It is tough to blend in, especially around kids sometimes that always just want to play and have fun. You just have to let them do what they do and eventually their interest in the new guy with a camera will fade.